A lot of paywalled news sites are easily defeated with ye olde “incognito tab,” but others have required a little Google artistry — using both the incognito browsing and incredibly precise search queries to read a paywalled article for free. However, after years of pressure from publishers, Google is finally bricking up that doggie door.
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paywalls
You Can’t Get To Those Paywalled Articles From A Google Search Anymore
By 10.2.17
GQ Website Gives Ultimatum To Readers: Disable Ad-Blockers Or Pay Up
By 12.28.15
With ad-blocking apps and plugins preventing U.S. content companies from earning some $22 billion a year off your eyeballs, some sites are throwing down the gauntlet and demanding that readers pay up if they want to avoid ads. [More]
Would You Pay A News Source To Read Individual Articles Online?
By 4.6.15
When you hear a song you like, you might pay $0.99 to buy it. Or perhaps you just really need to get past this one level of Sugar Shock, so you shell out to purchase a new set of lives. What about paying a news source to read just one article? Why not? Micropayments are as ubiquitous as the smartphones we all use nowadays, and one publication thinks the model can work on an article-by-article basis. [More]
Want To Watch NFL Playoffs Online? You’ll Need To Be A Cable Subscriber For Some Games
By 1.3.14
Streaming video technology and broadband speeds have improved to the point where watching live TV online can be almost indistinguishable from the real thing, which is one reason why many people have cut ties with their cable TV providers in recent years. But if those cord-cutters — or any DirecTV subscribers who happen to be away from home — want to watch all of the NFL playoff games online this month, they’ll need to get a friend’s cable company login. [More]
23 More Newspapers Hoist Up Paywalls
By 8.16.11
In a paradigm shift that will either help make newspapers more profitable or prove their dwindling relevance, 23 newspapers owned by MediaNews Group followed the lead of The Wall Street Journal and New York Times by shaking down would-be online freeloaders for a monthly fee. The program includes MediaNews’s smaller papers, including the Daily Democrat (Woodland, Calif.), Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Mass.) and Daily Times (Farmington, NM). [More]
Hulu Plus Reviewed: Is It Worth Your Money?
By 7.12.10
Staci D. Kramer at mocoNews tested Hulu Plus, the forthcoming “pay us $10 a month to watch commercials” subscription offering from Hulu, and reports that it’s okay-to-disappointing depending on your needs: “Given that I’m a subscription addict, I was fairly sure I’d wind up keeping it after my free review month. One week in, not so much.” [More]
